WESTFIELD Shopping Centre has been named as one of the country's crime hotspots.

The news comes as it emerged that Hammersmith & Fulham has more than 60 fewer police officers than on the eve of the London riots two years ago.

There were 2,524 crimes recorded at the Shepherd's Bush retail emporium between January 2012 and June 2013 - behind only Westfield's other London site at Stratford. Victoria railway and bus stations were eighth in the list with 1,483 offences.

The stats were released as a north London MP launched a broadside at Boris Johnson after uncovering figures which show there are 2,500 less police officers on London's streets than during the infamous August riots of 2011.

Official Metropolitan Police data shows that, in Hammersmith and Fulham, there are 30 fewer police officers and 32 fewer PCSOs - despite persistent reassurance from the mayor that officer numbers have not dropped.

David Lamy, MP for Tottenham, said: "Those five days in August showed how little it can take to stretch our police force to the limit. But rather than learn the lessons from two years ago where many Londoners were left to fend for themselves, the strength of the Met has been decimated even further.”

Hammersmith and Fulham insist crime continues to fall in the borough and the reorganisation of its police teams has resulted in more officers being assigned to high crime zones.

A spokesman for Westfield insisted the postcode covered a wider area than its shopping centre alone, and added: ‘As a proportion of high customer numbers visiting our centres, the incident levels at Westfield are very low.

"The safety of our customers, retailers and residents is a key priority. Westfield has on-site police teams and works closely with the Met Police, local authorities and retailers to ensure its centres are a safe and enjoyable place for our customers."